Program offers legal help to low-income LGBT seniors

NEWS

by Matthew S. Bajko

A new program has launched to offer legal help to low-income
LGBT seniors living in San Francisco.

The local nonprofit Bay Area Legal Aid launched the GLBT
Seniors Advocacy Project in order to help out elders with limited incomes who
encounter problems where they may need the assistance of an attorney.

Anyone 62 years of age or older whose income is roughly
$13,953 or less a year is eligible for the program. Those eligible likely are
living in single-room-occupancy hotels or have been in the same rent-controlled
apartment for decades.

The program's main goal is to see that legal issues do not
result in LGBT elders living on fixed incomes lose their housing in San Francisco
and have to relocate elsewhere.

"It's a population that is extremely fragile because at
any moment if they have a fluctuation in their income they could miss a rent
payment and be evicted," said Jamie Wagoner, the nonprofit's Borchard
Fellow in Law and Aging and the principal advocate behind the new project. "What
we are hoping to do is prevent them from having to leave the city."

GSAP is equipped to handle problems that out elders may
experience with a variety of governmental assistance programs, such as Supplemental
Security Income (SSI), Social Security retirement benefits, county adult
assistance program (General Assistance), Medi-Cal, Medi-Cal Managed Care, and
In-Home Support Services.

"We will act as their lawyer and we will represent them
if they have to go to Social Security Administration hearings," said
Wagoner. "We could represent them and go to court over their
eviction."

In addition, GSAP can offer referrals to other Bay Area
Legal Aid services related to domestic violence, housing-related problems,
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), CalWORKS, and Cash Assistance
Program for Immigrants (CAPI).

"It is hoped that GSAP will provide timely assistance
to GLBT seniors as soon as a problem arises with their benefits, preventing
disruptions or reductions in payments and the consequent loss of housing,"
explained Wagoner in an email announcing GSAP's launch. "This silent
movement of the low-income GLBT senior population out of the community could be
devastating for the individuals who are forced to relocate to less tolerant and
culturally sensitive areas."